US-China tensions ease as Bessent confirms call with counterpart He Lifeng

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent confirmed plans to speak with Chinese Vice-Premier He Lifeng on Friday in a further sign of easing tensions ahead of a potential meeting between the two countries’ leaders.

“The vice-premier, who is my counterpart, and I will be speaking this evening at around 8.30, 9 o’clock,” Bessent said at the White House on Friday.

The Treasury secretary added that He will also join him and a delegation in Malaysia “probably a week from tomorrow” to prepare for a meeting between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Bessent’s comments come just days after tensions in the US-China trade war escalated, when Beijing announced on October 9 that it would roll out further export restrictions for rare earth elements, key raw materials used in hi-tech manufacturing, in what many saw as a response to the expansion of a US trade blacklist.
Trump responded to Beijing’s announcement by threatening to impose an additional 100 per cent tariffs on Chinese goods – which he later conceded was “not sustainable” – and introduce export controls on all “critical software” from the start of next month.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent (left) shakes hands with Chinese Vice-Premier He Lifeng during a bilateral meeting between the US and China in Geneva in May. Photo: Reuters
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent (left) shakes hands with Chinese Vice-Premier He Lifeng during a bilateral meeting between the US and China in Geneva in May. Photo: Reuters
More complications arose on Tuesday, when China and the United States began implementing new port fee structures on each other’s ships and Trump warned he was considering a halt to imports of Chinese cooking oil.

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